Bad news for a struggling Iowa State team as star player Tyrese Haliburton will miss the rest of the season with a fractured left wrist. The likely 2020 NBA lottery pick suffered the injury just before halftime of Iowa State’s 73-63 victory over Kansas State on Saturday. The school said the severity of the injury was revealed Sunday after an MRI. Haliburton was averaging 15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals this season. Here’s a look at two early-week matchups around the country. Check back for College Basketball odds.
Top College Basketball Betting Picks of the Week – February 10th Edition
Michigan State at No. 22 Illinois
- When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET (ESPN)
Michigan State began the season as the No. 1 team in the nation but is now unranked and on a three-game losing streak. The Spartans were beaten 77-68 at rival Michigan on Saturday. Cassius Winston, who scored 32 points in Michigan State’s 87-69 win over the Wolverines last month, scored 20 in the rematch but shot just 5 of 18 from the field. The Wolverines went 11 of 28 from 3-point range while Michigan State (16-8, 8-5) was only 6 of 23. Michigan State only had one lead — 1-0.
Michigan State had trimmed a 29-23 halftime deficit to one point early in the second half and was down 42-40 before the Wolverines went on a 16-6 run and took a 58-46 lead on a layup from Brandon Johns Jr. with 6:51 to play. Michigan State was out-rebounded for just the fifth time this season. The team’s 10 assists were the second-fewest in a game this year. MSU is 1-6 when scoring less than 70 points.
Winston now has 1,839 career points and needs 13 points to pass Sam Vincent (1981-85) for seventh place. Winston has scored in double figures 20 times this season and led MSU in scoring 18 times. Winston handed out six assists, increasing his MSU and Big Ten all-time lead in that category to 849.
The Spartans are the first preseason No. 1 to drop out of the rankings since Kentucky did it twice in 2013-14.
Illinois comes off a 75-66 loss to then-No. 9 Maryland. Illinois led by as many as 14 points midway through the first half, but the Terrapins fought back and pulled to within 42-40 with a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. Maryland opened the second half with an 11-0 run to take a lead it never relinquished. The matchup between No. 20 Illinois and No. 9 Maryland was the first game in Champaign where both teams were ranked since Jan. 9, 2013, when No. 8 Minnesota defeated the No. 12 Illini, 84-67.
Illinois lost at Michigan State 76-56 on Jan. 2. Winston had 21 points and Xavier Tillman 19. Michigan State was in control from the outset but had just a six-point edge at halftime. The Spartans pulled away early in the second half with a 15-3 run.
No. 3 Kansas at No. 14 West Virginia
- When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN+)
Kansas is second in the Big 12 at 9-1 and WVU is third at 6-4 in conference action. KU enters on a seven-game winning streak, taking a 60-46 decision at TCU on Saturday.
After TCU cut the KU lead to just four points, 44-40, with seven minutes to play, the Jayhawk defense came alive. KU forced four-straight TCU turnovers, starting with a Marcus Garrett steal that led to a Devon Dotson and-one basket that kicked off a 12-0 KU run to put the Horned Frogs away for good. From the seven-minute mark to the final buzzer, the KU defense allowed just two TCU field goals, helping the Jayhawks close the game on a 16-6 run.
The 46 points allowed were a season-low for the Horned Frogs and the fewest by a KU opponent since 2015. The number also marked the fewest points conceded by a KU team in a Big 12 road game since 2013. The Jayhawks have now held 13 of their 23 opponents this season to fewer than 60 points.
Senior Udoka Azubuike posted his 10th double-double of the season and 17th of his career. Azubuike became the sixth Big 12 player in the league’s history to post at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a conference game
With the win, KU head coach Bill Self claimed his 700th career coaching victory, improving his overall record to 700-219 in his 27th season as a DI head coach. Self became the 31st person to hit the 700-win plateau at the NCAA Division I level and the eighth-active head coach.
The win made Kansas 20-3 overall, giving it 20 wins for the 31st straight season beginning in 1989-90, which would add to its active NCAA record of consecutive 20-win seasons and tie the all-time NCAA record for consecutive 20-win seasons with North Carolina which won 31 from 1971-2001.
West Virginia (18-5) lost 69-59 at Oklahoma on Saturday. West Virginia was just 11 of 31 on layups in the loss. WVU shot a season-worst 31.6% from the field. Before hitting five consecutive 3-pointers to end the game, the Mountaineers were 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Kansas beat visiting West Virginia 60-53 on Jan. 4. Azubuike had 17 points and 11 rebounds while outplaying Mountaineers big man Oscar Tshiebwe in the second half. Kansas trailed by as many as 10 before leaning on defense and dunks to beat the Mountaineers for the seventh time in their last eight meetings. Kansas won despite shooting 3 of 17 from beyond the arc.
NCAAB Betting Expert Picks for this Week at the NCAAB
Bet Kansas and Illinois.
